[MVMA] DARA <> MVHS Proof of Concept

[Moe]

Yesterday, Black Friday 24 Nov 2018, the MVMA did a proof of concept of a 5.8 GHz link from the Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) club house to Miami Valley Hospital South (MVHS). We used on-hand equipment—an existing MIMO NSM5 on reflector at MVHS and a SISO AGM5-27 borrowed from Bill Curtice WA8APB at DARA. This link  spans a distance of 13.5 miles. The test was a huge success!



Climbing the DARA tower were Bill Curtice WA8APB and Phil Verret KA8ZKR, ground crew at DARA were Reuben Meeks W8GUC, Ron Phillips AE6QU, and Stan Leeds KC7EHJ. At MVHS were Chuck Gelm NC8Q and Moe Riggins AB8XA.





Testing began on the lowest AREDN channel, 133, at 5 MHz bandwidth. Almost immediately we saw 14-15 dB S/N and about 3 Mb/s at both ends. Bill and Phil tweaked the aiming which was pretty close to begin with. That did get us up to 16-18 dB S/N,100%/100% link qualities and about 6.5 Mb/s—at 5 MHz bandwidth. We ran out of day to do any tweaking at MVHS and the 100%/100% LQ was what we were looking for.

We subsequently widened the bandwidth to 10 MHz and then to 20 MHz with associated drops in S/N and increases in Tx Mb/s. I left it on Ch 135/20 where the MVHS rate is 18-19 Mb/s. The DARA end sometimes hits that, but is generally around 12-13 Mb/s, dropping to 6.5 at times. We’ll work on this. Chuck is already trying other channels, but the reflected NSM5 seems to prefer the bottom of the band. We can tweak the aiming at MVHS.

Many thanks to all involved to get this done before winter! Great job!

—
Moe, AB8XA






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